The etymological connection between "universe" and the Latin verb "vertere, to turn" show that the idea of motion, spinning with a "turn," is linguistically part of the way the universe is conceptualized.

Looking to Greek myth, Atropos, one of the three Fates, was called "she who cannot be turned" and it was she who "cut the thread of life" (Atsma, "Moirai" n. pag).

In Latin and Greek, the idea of turning becomes a central metaphor for understanding the nature of existence.